What does it take to make an innovative school?

Two groups find and publicize ways to share “best practices”

The Hechinger Report is a national nonprofit newsroom that reports on one topic: education. Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get stories like this delivered directly to your inbox.

One of the challenges in trying out new learning strategies, including those that embrace technology, is that schools have a tough time finding out which new methods work best – which ones actually help kids learn.

This week brought two useful resources for addressing that problem. One is an expansion of a coalition of schools that share best practices, called the League of Innovative Schools; the other is a comprehensive report on the ways that competency-based learning initiatives have grown in the six New England states.

Sign up for the Future of Learning newsletter

Choose as many newsletters as you like

Weekly UpdateFuture of LearningHigher EducationMississippi Learning

Leave this field empty if you're human:

In competency-based learning systems (also sometimes called proficiency-based or mastery-based), the goal is to have students demonstrate their mastery of a subject before being moved on to the next level, rather than move ahead simply by accumulating enough time in class and passing the year-end test.

Even as high school graduation rates have risen, the number of students who need remedial classes once they enter college has also risen. The advocates at CompetencyWorks, a coalition set up to promote this method and assess best practices, argue that this is because students are not mastering what they need to know to prepare them for college or for the workforce.

“[Without research], districts must rely on benchmarking – learning about the most effective processes their colleagues are using across the region.”

Report by CompetencyWorks on Competency-based Learning in New England

Without such research, the report states, “districts must rely on benchmarking – learning about the most effective processes their colleagues are using across the region.”

Sharing effective practices for using technology in education has been the mission of Digital Promise a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization, for five years. It has done so through its League of Innovative Schools, a carefully selected group that adds more districts each year.

They test new strategies. They work together to solve problems. They serve as examples for other schools that want to test-drive new technology – and avoid the mistakes made by those who did it first. Often they also serve as advisers to other schools seeking help with technology planning.

This week the league added 19 new members. It now includes 87 school districts in 33 states. The league estimates that those schools enroll about 3.3 million students. They also announced a new podcast series, “Ask a Leader.”

And their influence goes beyond peers. Leaders from these schools speak at many major education and technology conferences, so they are directly or indirectly – and for better or worse – shaping how companies, think tanks, philanthropists and schools of education view classroom technology.

The League of Innovative Schools has grown to include 87 districts and education agencies in 33 states.

The newest members are a diverse bunch. The folks at Digital Promise explain in a blog post: “Students with sensory impairments participate in maker learning camps offered by the Utah Schools for the Blind and the Deaf. Students in Compton Unified School District are learning computer science from pre-K to senior year. And the School District of Lee County is committed to providing pathways to college for its students in rural Kentucky through robust local and national partnerships.”

The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn't mean it's free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

The Hechinger Newsletter

We cover inequality and innovation in education with in-depth journalism that uses research, data and stories from classrooms and campuses to show the public how education can be improved and why it matters.

This website uses cookies as well as similar tools and technologies to understand visitors' experiences. By continuing to use this website, you consent to Teachers College, Columbia University's usage of cookies and similar technologies, in accordance with the Teachers College, Columbia University's Website Cookie Notice.

This website uses cookies as well as similar tools and technologies to understand visitors’ experiences. By continuing to use this website, you consent to our usage of cookies and similar technologies, in accordance with our cookie policy.